Author: Barbara Swafford

Today’s Lesson Recently I read an article (don’t remember where, so I can’t give credit to the author), about including links in your posts, in order to prevent someone from plagiarizing your content. In the event, someone copied your content, they would also be copying the links. Makes sense. By… read more Create Internal Links – Avoid Plagiarism

Links to and from other sites, are great for increasing the popularity of your blog. When I first started this blog, I decided to provide a link to all individuals (who had blogs or websites) who commented on, or linked to my blogs. That is when my “Blogging Buddies” page… read more My “Blogging Buddies” Update

If you are on this blog, trying to figure out how to make millions from blogging, you are on the wrong site. I would suggest you read a previous post of mine, titled Quit Blogging – Make Millions. Today’s Lesson When you sign up for Google AdSense, if you troll… read more Experiment With AdSense Positions

Today’s Lesson We spend an awful lot of time writing posts. Some days, though, we just don’t feel creative, but we know we should get something posted, so the search engines will visit out sites. I know that may sound like a lame excuse to post something, but we need… read more Updating An Old Post, Will Get You Crawled

I love to be able to help others. Not only in my everyday life, but now with blogging. Isn’t that really why we blog? Today’s Lesson If you have read my “about” page, you know I love old people, children and animals. My love for children is one reason reason… read more Is Your Blog Helping Others

If you have a blog, receiving your first comment (that wasn’t spam), is pretty exciting. Receiving a comment, validates that you are being heard. Comments can give you motivation to keep blogging. Comments can also develop into cyberspace friendships. Comments are also very important to fellow bloggers, so don’t forget… read more How To Get Comments On Your Blog

It’s one in the morning My husband is snoring And I lay in bed, wide awake My computer is down I feel like a clown My brain just won’t take a break My mind is a racing I just started pacing To the kitchen I go to get tea As… read more Creativity Strikes Blogger At 3 a.m.

Google AdSense video units are now ready for use on blogs. I went to my Google AdSense account and downloaded the video unit. If you do not have a YouTube account, you must first establish one prior to downloading the video unit. After getting your confirmation code from YouTube, you… read more Google AdSense Video Units

Leaving a comment on another blog, can spark many things. One comment can create a rush of traffic to your blog. A meaningful comment can also bring you many loyal visitors. Keep in mind, “comment traffic” can be “spikey” traffic, i.e. you could see an immediate spike in your traffic… read more Write Traffic Building Comments

Just when you figured out, you can make money from your blog, a plugin can be downloaded, that can block ads. You didn’t want to hear that, did you? But, it’s true, and something we all must consider. Today’s Lesson Try this for yourself. ,allows you to download “Adblock”. You… read more Readers Can Block Ads

Apparently, Google cares about page rank. And, so do the other search engines. A lot of bloggers care, too. I don’t. Maybe, I should… Today’s Lesson What is page rank? According to Wikipedia, PageRank is a link analysis algorithm that assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a hyperlinked… read more Page Rank – Who Cares?

Google AdSense is a common way for bloggers, to try and generate income for their sites. If you sign into your Google account, you may see that you also have a choice for Google “referral” ads. Don’t yet have an AdSense account, you can click on the following link, and… read more Google Referral Ads vs Ads For Content

Learning all there is to know about keywords, keyword density, or keyword phrases, could take months. But, it is a known fact, using keyword density, may get your blog found, and drive more traffic to your site. This is what I have learned about keywords, keyword density and keyword phrases…. read more How To Use Keywords or Keyword Phrases

Page views in stats are over rated, and can be inflated. How? If you click on your own posts, and your stats program is not blocking your own visits, your page views go up. Example: One day I was feverishly working on my blog. I was all over the place…updating… read more Page Views Are Over Rated!

Is your blog being found by search engines, referrals, or direct (bookmarks, or someone types in your blog URL)? I have two blogs, and interestingly enough, readers are finding this blog, by referrals, almost exclusively. (A lot of my referrals, become “direct”, due to bookmarking.) My second blog, Observation Mountain.com… read more Search Engines, Referrals or Direct Traffic?

As written earlier, in my post, Is A Hit, A Visit? we found out that a hit is not a visit. So, is a visit a visit? It all depends on which stats program you’re using. Today, I’m analyzing five different blogging statistics platforms. It’s going to get confusing. What… read more Confusing Blog Stats – Is a Visit a Visit?

Years ago, we had just moved to a large city. My husband, not being used to freeways, was driving on one, just as he always did on the country roads. As he was enjoying the scenery, he heard a siren and then noticed flashing lights in his rear view mirror…. read more Is Your Blog “Petting Traffic”?

I’ve read many articles about blogging. Many state that you need to “pick a niche” and create a blog around that niche. Curiosity got the best of me, so I went to Technorati, and took a look at the top ten blogs. What did I find? Well, most of them… read more Niche, Or No Niche, That Is The Question…

I am not a newbie! I am not a newbie! I am not a newbie! I am not a newbie! Keep repeating this sentence, until you “get it”. Hearing the term, “I am a newbie”, in blogging, reminds me of how some women will say, “I’m just a housewife”, or… read more I Hate The Word “Newbie”

When you receive a comment on your blog, and the author makes a typo, should you correct the error? If the author of the comment, uses improper grammar, should you change it? If the author of the comment, forgets to capitalize the first letter of a sentence, should you correct… read more Should You Edit Your Reader’s Comments?

Should you monetize your blog, by inserting ads? Or should your blog be free of ads? Should you insert ads as soon as you set up your blog? Or, should you wait until your readership increases, and then add Google AdSense, affiliate ads, etc? Most bloggers do write, because they… read more Monetize Your Blog?

What is a favicon? To quote Wikipedia.org A favicon (short for ‘favorites icon’), also known as a website icon, a page icon or an urlicon, is an icon associated with a particular website or webpage. Where do you see a favicon? You will see it at the beginning of the… read more How To Create A Favicon For Your Blog

Leaving comments on another blog, is a great way to generate more traffic, to your blog. How does leaving a comment on another blog, drive traffic to your blog, you ask? It starts with a short story. Several weeks ago, I left a comment on Darren Rowse’s blog, Problogger. Asako,… read more Comments Generate Traffic

I love to blog I love to write I check the time It’s past midnight My eyes are red My shoulders hurt My butt is numb I’m getting curt I checked my stats I made a dollar I want to shout I want to holler I like to link And… read more I Love To Blog

If you have been blogging for any length of time, are you finding out who really cares about your blog? Who are your regular visitors? Are they your family? Are they your friends? Do your family and friends visit your blog on a regular basis? Leave comments? This is what… read more You Blog? Who Cares?

Does your site need an extreme makeover? Just as humans, strive to look their best, we should treat our blogs, the same way. Good content could be compared to a good person. A good person may not make a great first impression, but once we get to know them, we… read more Are You A “Site For Sore Eyes”

You have a blog. Now, what about the design, or theme of your blog? It can be an daunting task…finding the theme that matches your content. Having changed my themes (I have two blogs), at least a half dozen times, I am reverting back to KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid!… read more KISS Your Blog

Unless you are keeping a personal, shopping, or photo blog, most visitors are on your site for one reason. Think about this……… A visitor really doesn’t care about the “name” of your blog. Visitors to your site, don’t care if your “theme” reflects your message. Most visitors don’t care if… read more Without _____,Your Blog Is Nothing!

Do you have old posts, that have never been read by anyone, other than you? Do you have old posts, that are buried so deep in your archives, that you don’t even remember writing them? Do you have old posts, that don’t reflect your beliefs any more? It’s time to… read more Lost and Found – Old Posts – How to Revive Them

The “Subscribe Me” plugin is a great tool to add to your site, and encourage readers to subscribe to your blog. On the right side bar of this page, you will see “Subscribe”, in a rectangular box (Update: I have since removed this plugin). It has a drop down feature,… read more Add “Subscribe Me” Plugin To Your Blog